From Space to Grammar: Semantic Change of English Prepositions About and Around: a Grammaticalization Perspective

This book investigates semantic change of English prepositions about and around from lexical source to various extended meanings, describing the developmental paths and the operations of change mechanisms. Five major mechanisms of semantic change are invoked here to explain such semantic changes, i.e. metaphor, metonymy, subjectification, generalization, and frame-of-focus variation. Metaphorical transfer extends formerly concrete meanings that made reference to physical space onto more abstract meanings. Metonymic transfer extends the meanings based on conceptual contiguity of various kinds. Generalization changes relatively specific meanings or meanings largely restricted to a particular domain into those that could be used in larger contexts. Subjectification changes meanings formerly associated with description of the external world into those associated with personal emotion and evaluation by way of anthropocentricity and egocentricity. Finally, variation of the frame of focus on the source schema gives rise to various meanings that may look irrelevant. This book shows that semantic change is a complex process in which multifarious factors and mechanisms interplay.